In a business enterprise, a significant number of projects may be underway in parallel (e.g., in a software development pipeline) at any given time. Over time, progress in or completion of each project may have a certain demand in terms of human resources, human skill sets, and various acquisitions. In order to ensure that demand will be met over the course of a given project, managers of individual projects assess what the specific demand is for their own project. In a large enterprise with significant numbers of projects in the software development pipeline, assessing the overall demand and how to meet it is complex. Over time, demand may grow in such a way that it exceeds the available resources, i.e. the supply.
Supply can also vary. For example, available human resources represent one aspect of the supply to meet the above-described demand. The labor supply may comprise individuals grouped in various ways according to the skill sets of each individual. In any enterprise, the supply of human resources, and particularly of valuable skill sets, varies over time as new individuals are hired, existing employees voluntarily leave or are laid off, and individuals come and go from the enterprise as contract workers.
Effectively balancing the demand and the supply of resources necessary for completing projects with any constraints pertaining to the supply, and further optimizing this balance, is a challenging task. Software tools can facilitate the task of assessing and growth planning for supply and demand of resources necessary to project completion.